When Lorena Gaxiola got the call to showcase a new line of furniture at the prestigious Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York, she had two months to design, manufacture and ship her wares to the March event.

She made it, and Kuatro Living was on its way.

Just another coup for the young woman behind Kuatro Design, the San Diego business she started in 2003, specializing in model home interior design. Now, the time is right for Gaxiola, 32, to pursue another passion.

“I’ve always been inspired with furniture,” she said. “There was a lull in the real estate market, and this opened up for me the chance to be creative and do a line of furniture. The response has been unbelievable, beyond my imagination.”

Gaxiola is using her savings, along with revenue generated by Kuatro Design, to finance Kuatro Living.

“Opening in New York was a big challenge, but very expensive,” said Gaxiola. “We had to ship to New York and then come back. It cost as much as it did to make all of the furniture.”

Not that she’s complaining. But, at the time, Gaxiola had some doubts that she could pull it off.

“I thought, ‘What is the worst that can happen?’ ”

Then she thought about all the ritzy design publications and industry VIPs that would be attending the event.

“We were so scared,” said Gaxiola. “I thought, ‘What if everybody hates it?’ But, everyone had incredible comments about the furniture. The feeling I got is that designers actually love it. In New York, they want unique. They have a very high level of sophistication.”

The design show featured 300 exhibitors. Most of them were from North America, but the event also included brands from Italy, France and other foreign countries, according to Troy Hanson, director of leasing for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York. All of the wares were geared to the high-end market, from kitchen and bath, to floor coverings and lighting, he added.

Gaxiola’s debut “was a very big hit,” said Hanson.

“It was very well-received by the audience, judging by the crowds in her space,” he said. “We were happy to have her involved.”

Information from: www.sdbj.com

This entry was posted on Monday, June 11th, 2007 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Furniture. Tags: America, Bath, Design, finance, France, Furniture, Hanson, Italy, New York, North America, Oman, Opening, real estate, real estate market, San Diego, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.